Neural connections are at the heart of modern science, providing the framework by which scientists explain memory, perception, learning, and even consciousness. The microscopic contacts between brain cells send signals that explain various aspects of our complex consciousness – at least in theory.
However, Tamlyn Hunt, a philosopher and neuroscientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has proposed an alternative hypothesis in an article for Scientific American. Hunt suggests that the key to understanding consciousness may lie in the ephaptic field – a phenomenon in which neurons interact electromagnetically without forming physical connections.
The concept of a neural code was first described by American scientists in 1943. They mapped brain activity and equated it to binary code, just like a computer (0s and 1s). However, this breakthrough did not bring humanity any closer to understanding the nature of consciousness.
“The most obvious gap in our understanding is anything we haven’t encountered on the journey from eye to hand. Everything I Couldn’t Tell You About the Mind Because We Know So Little About How Nerve Impulses Create It,” acknowledged neuroscientist Mark Humphries in his 2020 book, The Speed of Thought: A Momentary Journey Through the Brain in 2.1 Seconds.
Researchers have long suspected that neurons communicate in ways beyond traditional synaptic connections. One such mechanism is epaptic communication, in which electromagnetic fields interact on a larger scale than the electrical impulses that occur at synapses.
Evidence for epaptic interactions may lie in the retina, which is considered a separate entity from the brain by some scientists. Neurons in the retina use electrodiffusion instead of traditional synaptic connections, allowing the optic nerve to process an impressive amount of data.
Experimental confirmation of epaptic field interactions came in 2019 when Dominic Durand’s lab at Case Western Reserve University cut open a mouse hippocampus. The halves continued to communicate even when they were more than 400 microns apart. The results were so astonishing that reviewers demanded that the experiment be repeated before they would approve its publication.
Further studies have shown that ehaptic field propagation is much faster than neural signaling. In gray matter this happens about 5000 times faster than synaptic connections.
Although there is extensive experimental evidence supporting the role of synaptic activation in processes such as movement, hearing and touch, the higher density of information in epiptic fields – together with their permeability and speed – raises the question of whether nature designed these processes in this way. fields can trust. critical brain functions.
It appears that this is the case. Noted neuroscientist Walter Freeman of UC Berkeley noted that traditional synaptic activation rates cannot explain the speed of cognitive processes he has observed in rabbits and cats over the years.
A growing body of research into electromagnetic interactions in the brain offers a compelling explanation for this cognitive speed. A recent paper published in Frontiers in Psychology suggests that epiptic field effects may be the very mechanism underlying consciousness itself.
